Hayden

When it comes to Fantasy works, do people and publishers seem to consider manuscripts or novels something of a rip-off if they contain species, plots, characters, etc. that are similar to those found in other works?

For example: if you were to write about a world that, although not alike Tolkein's Middle Earth, contained creatures such as Orcs and Elves, will that look bad to a potential publisher?

thanks.

wmd

Orcs and Elves are common place in fantasy...

now if you were to have a story that contained Jawas or Ewoks than publishers would probably frown on that.

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playstation60

LMAO, I am so including an Ewok in my next fantasy story...lol.

No, seriously though things such as orcs, ogres, elves and such are very common in the genre. Now if you say have a mystical ring that contains immense power and a fellowship is attempting to destory it, that would be bad. Or if you involve pubecent teens attending a hidden magic school. You get the idea.

Mallignamius

Elves, ogres, orcs, giants, unicorns, dragons... These are the things of a donut café. They have extensive history in folklore and mythology, used for ages. Including them in your story is no different than knights or dinosaurs. There's no rip off.

lin

My impression is that fantasy publishers and fans LOVE stock characters. God, how many naked barbarian sword-slingers are there out there, how many warrior maidens in bronze bras and thongs?
Middle Earth clones are a franchise. I have a hard time thinking this is a problem.

It's like bare-chested, long haired swains in romance novels. Nobody seems to be saying, "Enough, already" at the cash register.

Hayden

Ah, okay. Thanks for the tips.

wmd

How about a young naive orc who leaves his village to save the world from a force that is evil from his pov and along the way kills farm boys and good guys?

This statement is a little joking around but a little more serious... has there ever been a story like this one? It kind of turns the fantasy world on it's ear a bit, but could be a great story...

hmmmm

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Shawn

That's because I'm forking over the cash.

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Sometimes I'm like George Boole at a maybe show.

Uriah

Modern fantasy has been to literature, what emo has been to punk rock music.

Please, for the love of god, if you want to write a story with a freaking Orc or Goblin, or goddamned elf, just do us all a favor and step in front of a bus. Although, sad to say, it does seem to be the booming market right now.

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“Every book has an intrinsic impossibility, which its writer discovers as soon as his first excitement dwindles.” ~ Annie Dillard

lin

Wouldn't it be better to step in front of a dragon or ravening barbarian?

Booming market you say? Hmmmmm. Maybe I could change my mafia family to an orc family, then.....

Hayden

Why would it be such a bad thing to write a story with an Elf or an orc, etc?

wmd

I don't think that having these things in the story is such a bad thing...

I think that the popularity of fantasy has been rising so fast recently that publishers are trying to play the hot hand and get this stuff out as fast as possible... this results in a lot of hack writing that sounds too much like a session of D&D.

Good stories can have these things, but these things are not required to have a good story.

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Voodoo

I read about an orc, I think what fiery hell...

I read about something pronounced "uriethicain", I think what fresh hell...

Its the content that matters, not the character stock. Don't make some new race just because it is new, because its not.

If you want money, just write about naked guys, inspired.

Foxee

Fantasy doesn't always have to be sword and sorcery, does it? Tolkien used the world around him (the shires, etc.) to build his world. I'm pretty sure he used some folk stories to build his characters. He was from England, a monarchy, and thought in terms of kings and queens and medevial times.

Is anyone writing modern fantasy? Fantasies that are built of our world now? Do they automatically turn into science fiction in this case?

I'm attempting what might be considered to be a modern fantasy and it has nothing to do with elves, there are no dwarves, and it is very likely that nobody will use a sword in the whole thing. And yet I will have a world I've built and creatures that don't exist in an interface with reality that is highly unlikely.

Of course, whether a publisher will ever buy it is another thing.

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wmd

I think a great example of modern fantasy is Neil Gaiman...

It can work, and it is the story and the writing that is important, not the creatures that inhabit it.

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